If you've ever watched the television show Star Trek, you'll remember the spaceships equipped with a cloaking device that made them untrackable. The ships became invisible on radar screens and thus could maneuver in the midst of the enemy without detection. Naturally, the cloaking device, a high form of technology not possessed by all intergalactic inhabitants, was greatly desired.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have such a cloaking mechanism—something that would protect us and allow for safe passage through dangerous territory and hostile environments?

Though such devices, today at least, are right out of science fiction, anyone who has had proof of Christian Science healing can recognize the power of another kind of "cloaking"—based on divine law. There's plenty about this in the Bible. We're told, for example, of three people who were cloaked in such spiritual conviction that they were safe in the midst of a flaming inferno. And of another person who was thrown in with hungry lions and came out unharmed.

What held Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego safe in the burning fiery furnace? And Daniel. What kept the lions from attacking him?

One clue to the safety of all four men might be that each was faithful to God. Each refused to worship false gods, even though threatened with death. And each trusted his life to God alone.

After his night in the lions' den Daniel said to the king who had had him put there: "My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt." ^{Dan. 6:22.} Daniel's calm courage in the face of persecution suggests he had a solid awareness of God's loving presence and control. The intentions of the presidents and princes, being evil and therefore contrary to the goodness of God, couldn't prevail in the face of this recognition.

Stop a minute and make a mental list of all the places where God is not, and therefore where evil might exist! An impossible task, of course, since God is everywhere. And that's exactly the point.

God is everywhere. The question is: How can we keep this fact foremost in our thought? How can we maintain a pure consciousness so we feel and see good, God, and are untouched by propositions of evil?

First, we can acknowledge that God, divine Mind, is actually, always, the only consciousness. As His idea, man reflects this consciousness of good, individually, certainly.

On this basis we can learn to protect ourselves from the intrusion of evil thinking. We can determine the kind of thoughts to which we will give a home by asking, "Where did that thought originate? Is its source God, good?" If the source is God, it's clear that, if acted upon, the thought would protect and bless. As we discern the source of thought, we become more skilled in recognizing instantly the motives and concepts for which we'll make a home.

Evil is without intelligence. Its supposed power can't find us when we make strong and pure thoughts our constant companions. Mrs. Eddy writes, "Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210.} Now, that's what we might call a terrific cloak of invisibility.

Several years ago, two young women were spending the summer away from their hometown. It was their first experience without adult supervision, and they loved their freedom. That is until they heard stories about someone in their area of the city who was attacking young women.

They became alarmed one night when the local police chased a man through their backyard; the suspect was thought to be responsible for the attacks. The man eluded the police, and fear that he might come back made the two women seriously consider returning to their home several hundred miles away.

Since the two roommates attended the Christian Science Sunday School, they decided to talk to a practitioner before they made a final decision.

The practitioner reassured the women that the purity of their thought was their complete protection. There was no need to fear that evil would find them when they were dwelling with God. No evil presence could possibly be there!

The women began to see that they were in the presence of God—and they made every effort to allow only good thoughts into their mental home. They also understood that destructive, violent thinking is unaware of that which is pure and innocent. (Hadn't Daniel told the king that he was safe in the lions' den because innocency had been found in him?) Evil cannot know good any more than good can know evil.

Safety lay in acknowledging God's presence as constant, and in maintaining pure, Godlike thoughts. How basic that seemed! In Sunday School they had been taught that God, good, was the one Mind, their only source of intelligence.

Contemplating Mind's spiritual creation strengthened their conviction of safety—not just for themselves but for the neighborhood. The divine demand for harmony eliminates any suggestion of victim or marauder. Where, in God's creation, could the concept of victim and assailant originate?

Thus the two young women put on their spiritual armor of good thoughts. Fear was replaced with confidence and spiritual reasoning. With their new conviction of safety they enjoyed the remainder of their vacation in their city home.

Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, counsels her followers to pray daily for themselves and to maintain purity of thought. She asks us to pray that all sin be ruled out of us. ^{See Manual of The Mother Church, Art. VIII, Sect. 4 .}

Then, challenged by any intruding fear or dangerous situation, we can say instantly, "That's a lie! Evil cannot possibly come from within my thinking. As a child of God, I have what He gives me. God's thoughts are the only true thoughts. And they are my thoughts!"

We can remember Jesus' words, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." ^{Matt. 5:8.} And seeing, feeling, and acknowledging God's presence is surely the best protective cloak.